Bluejays Top Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Shaun Marcum carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 Friday night.

Marcum left after Billy Butler's infield single with two outs broke up the no-hit bid. He was led off the field by trainer George Poulis with apparent leg cramps on a hot, humid night.

Marcum (9-4) had walked two and hit a batter before Butler's single. Shortstop John McDonald made a diving stop of it, but lost control as he attempted to throw.

The right-hander has thrown at least six shutout innings in seven of his 14 starts.

Poulis had visited Marcum on the mound in the sixth inning after he flinched his right leg after throwing a pitch. It was 94 degrees when the game started with a heat index of 103.

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Vernon Wells broke a scoreless game with a double to the left-center gap in the sixth, scoring Lyle Overbay and Alex Rios, who led off the inning with singles.

Royals right-hander Gil Meche (7-10) was pulled after Wells' hit. Meche, who has lost four straight starts, gave up two runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking none.

Jeremy Accardo pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 25 opportunities.

Marcum threw six no-hit innings against Tampa Bay on May 13, his first start of the season, but was pulled because his pitch count reached 78. He received a no-decision when the Devil Rays rallied for a 2-1 win.

He began the game by walking David DeJesus on a full count, ending a streak of 22 innings and 89 batters without issuing a walk. Marcum's previous walk was in the fourth inning on July 18 against the New York Yankees.

In the fifth, Marcum walked Billy Butler on four pitches. He hit Mark Grudzielanek with a pitch in the fourth for the only other base runners he would allow.

The Royals got on the board in the eighth, when Alex Gordon led off with a double down the left-field line off Casey Janssen. Gordon advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Joey Gathright's one-out single.

Gathright moved to third on a single by Tony Pena Jr. With runners on the corners, left-hander Scott Downs was brought in to face DeJesus, who grounded into an inning-ending double play. ^Notes: The last Blue Jay to throw a no-hitter was Dave Stieb on Sept. 2, 1990, against Cleveland. ... Marcum, who was born in Kansas City and went to Excelsior Springs High School, about 25 miles north of Kauffman Stadium, was a 2003 third-round pick of Toronto out of Missouri State. He had more than 100 family members and friends at the game. ... RHP Josh Towers, who was 0-3 with a 7.47 ERA in his past three starts, is going to the Blue Jays bullpen with RHP A.J. Burnett coming off the disabled list Sunday. ... Royals RF Mark Teahen hit into double plays in his first two at-bats, while Blue Jays 2B Aaron Hill ended the sixth by grounding into a double play. The two share the American League-lead by grounding into 19 double plays.

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